Essie Hard to Resist Strengthener

I received the Essie Hard to Resist Nail Strengthener in shade 00 glow & shine (sheer pink). My nails are very short and weak from being stress-chewed often, but not currently discoloured.

This strengthener comes in the standard essie bottle, so if you have a collection it will fit in! It looks like a deep translucent pink in the bottle, and upon opening has quite a strong nail polish smell.

The formula is thin, which I like. The brush is fairly small but shaped nicely and makes it easy to apply a thin coat. Being such a thin coat, I found it is dry to touch within a few minutes, so you don't waste too much time adding this layer before your regular polish. On its own it has a smooth and soft finish, leaving just a little pink tint.

For me, I have only a couple of cons for this product. The first is that I found it acted a little like a peel-off base coat. This may be due to the flexibility of my weak nails, and as they bent under the polish during everyday life, I found it peeling off within a day or two, so I have reapplied it a few times over the last couple of weeks. The second comes more down to personal preference - in the past my favourite strengthening treatment was one that just soaked in to the nails, rather than being an extra polish type layer, and I have been looking for one to replace that for a long time. However, this essie one is quite thin and therefore a pretty good option in my book!

I agree with the claims that my nails do instantly feel protected, and after wearing it for a couple of weeks they are definitely feeling stronger. I will be using the rest of this bottle and would seriously consider getting more once it's gone.

I have weak and brittle nails, so I was very excited to try this. My nails were weak from constantly washing my hands all day . I tried this polish and I noticed how stronger my nails felt and brighter. It's clear coat with a mild pink tone so it makes it easier for me to apply without making a mess and I can apply another color over it.

It takes a couple of weeks to see any results, but really does help to make nails stronger. Does dry nails out a bit.

The Essie brush applied an even coat and the smell was less strong than normal nail polish. I really liked how shiny my nails looked after applying this nail strengthener. It's not quite as shiny as a top coat but it has that subtle shine like cuticle oil on the nails, I couldn't help admiring my nails all day throughout work. However it did start wearing off by Day 3 but I do admit with the frequent handwashing and alcohol gelling I do, I wasn't surprised. I think I like the idea of how it strengthens my nails so will use for the occasions when my nails become dry or brittle after removing nail polish.

I got to review Essie Nail Strengthener I was intrigued to try this product , I always keep my nails long and I do manicure them myself ! I'm pretty good at it ,however as I'm getting older I noticed my nails are brittle and peeling.

The product claim : After 3 days nails are less brittle and appear healthy and smooth hmm not in my case, probably will take a couple of weeks to have very good results I have using the product for about two weeks so far it's ok I will keep using it to see if any extreme improvement shows , easy to apply and dry super quickly , overall a good product .

For this review, I used 00 Glow & Shine. It came in a generic white box, with instructions that said to apply two coats, with no instructions on how often to reapply, so I thought I'd reapply weekly. Apparently nails would be strengthened in three days.

The formula itself is quite a nice red, in a signature Essie bottle with a cool holograph label. It's quite watery, and has a really strong polish smell. Luckily, the smell doesn't last long on the nails. You do have to be very careful when applying it, and wipe excess off in the bottle, or it will drip.

Coverage on the nails is pretty good, because it is so watery and thin, you don't need a lot on the nails. It dries super fast, and leaves a nice pink sheen.

However, I did find the formula chipped and peeled off easily just doing normal day to day things which was quite annoying. I had to flag my thoughts of applying it once a week to every couple of days because it could literally start peeling within a matter of hours.

But, does it work? I haven't noticed my nails being stronger, they're just as bendy as ever. So I can't comment on the 3 day thing. But a huge problem for me was my nails breaking really high up, horizontally, which could be both painful as well as extremely annoying. I've used the formula for a couple of weeks, and this hasn't continued. So in my personal experience, I have noticed a difference. However, just because it chips and peels so quickly, I don't think I'd repurchase.

I was so excited to try this nail strengthening polish as I used to bite my nails as a young child right through to my early 20’s, and after that I used to frequent nail salons to cover up my thin, damaged, not so glamorous nails. After realising that the fake nails were indeed damaging my own nails further, I looked into nail polish style treatments that would help me get reasonably long enough nails that allowed me actually feel better about myself. It’s been many years and although my nails will grow, they’re still thin and will chip, peel or tear and break at the edges. The Essie Hard to Resist Nail Strengthener has helped to keep my nails from any damage for far longer than all other products I have previously tried. I love the subtle pink tint this polish gives, and the shine is just gorgeous. I still found the edges of the polish chipped off on occasion however I didn’t feel it was overly noticeable, and the polish still did the job of protecting my nails. I also tend to wash my hands ALOT, which has the annoying side effect of drying my nails out plus giving them a dull appearance, this polish has helped immensely in preventing this occurring. The only issue I had was the lack of instructions by Essie. Apply 2 coats and that’s it, no mention of how long to keep it on, whether it’s reapply every so often, you get my drift. That being said, I do like this product and would recommend it to anyone who thinks their nails need that extra help, or even if they just want that sheer hint of colour with beautiful shine.

So I just want to start by saying I wish I had a bit longer to trial. The product claims results in three days though so after a week of using here we go!

I’ll begin with the packaging, a typical Essie style bottle, perfectly pretty. The pink formula looks really pretty in the bottle too, it’s quite bright in there! I love the Essie polish brushes and this one stays true to their style. Nice and thick, slightly flat, super easy to use for application.

The polish formula itself is nowhere near as pigmented as it looks in the bottle, it’s very natural looking and mainly just a gloss. It goes on smoothly with a pretty normal consistency. It did take a little longer to dry than I would like, but I am very impatient!

As for the results - the product claims your nails will feel stronger instantly and after three days will be less brittle, healthier and smoother. I can’t claim to have noticed an instant difference but I would say that after three days my nails did feel stronger. I haven’t noticed them being smoother but that wasn’t a primary issue for me. My nails split, that is my biggest concern. So I have decided to cut them back short and use this product while they grow. I do have high hopes that as a longer term product this will be a useful tool, but I will have to come back to update on that one!